Infinity and beyond
by reachoutforthestars
Summary: My first Fanfic so please R&R  Summary inside :
1. Foreword

Hey guys (: uhm this is my first fanfic and I'm sorry but its not really a fanfic. I was writing a story and decided to use Zack and Cody, instead of creating my own.. Well its about them venturing into a whole new world, where they can do new things, and must face new challenges together, in a gruelling fight for survival..

Yeah please R&R.. And its kinda an adventure/fantasy/romance story but with other characters I made up so sorry to all you London and Baily fans out there.. Ill include them if I ever write another one.

Well it may not be great but I tried my best so enjoy!


	2. Prologue

_Thunder rumbled in the distance and showers of light rain descended from the grey Boston sky as, at long last, the wanderer returned home. Zachary Martin, clad in a dark cloak, drew stares from the smartly dressed passer-bys as he once again pushed through those revolving doors of the Boston Tipton. As he burst past the doorman, clad smartly in a suit of green and gold and into the so-familiar lobby, a cacophony of smells he once knew and loved overwhelmed him and as he surveyed the scene in front of him, from the eye-catching candy counter to the gold-encrusted mahogany front desk, he knew, he was home._

_Slowly, as if he was still in a dream, he stepped towards the lift, ignoring the bellhop's query as to whether he needed assistance, taking it to the 23__rd__ floor, conflicting emotions running through his mind all the while as he recalled the events that had led to his final homecoming._

_ "I'll take care of it! Go, Just GO!"_

_He buried his head in his hands,_

"_Sacrifice is the greatest form of love."_

"_Ding" The elevator reached the 23__rd__ floor, and he exited into a hallway carpeted from floor to ceiling in lush green designs, and with an ease that came only with familiarity, turned to the room that bore the numbers 2330, on a tarnished brass plaque. He swiped his key card and entered. The room had obviously not been lived in for ages, and despite the fact that it was within a world renowned 5-star hotel, was covered in a thin layer of dust. As he once again looked around, at the mini kitchen that his brother had spent so much time in, cooking up new and original recipes, at the bedroom where he had once played, where he had broken his leg, where he had even kept the hotel's horse hidden once, he realized how much he had truly lost over the past few years. _

_He sat by the window, where soft light filtered gently in from the morning sky, and gazed longingly at the amulet he wore around his neck, a golden crest, with a single sparkling ruby in the center, then at the one he held in his hand, exactly identical but for the emerald it held. As the amulets reflected the morning light, projecting a kaleidoscope of colours on the walls around him, he thought back to two years ago, which though short, seemed like an eternity…_


	3. Chapter 1

"Hey hurry it up, ya big girl!" Zack shouted jokingly, as his twin brother Cody struggled with the large yellow oxygen tanks, trying to bring them out of the storage room.

Cody retorted, "It would be easier if you, I don't know, HELPED?"

Zack just laughed and ran topside, leaving his brother struggling with the diving equipment. The sun was shining brightly, casting brilliant rays of light down, which glinted off the pristine Caribbean Sea. Every so often, a light wisp of wind would blow, ruffling Zack's hair as it passed. Their boat, a sleek new powerboat, sliced through the water, breaking up the calm waters around them to what seemed like a thousand little mirrors, all reflecting the sun's brilliance.

Zack sighed, leaning casually against the side of the rails taking in their beautiful surroundings, as through the cabin doors emerged a profusely sweating, extremely furious, Cody Martin dragging two large tanks of oxygen behind him. "Dude, I've had enough. We're supposed to be working together here to take samples of the sunken Spanish frigate for scientific study before term break is up, and you have me doing all the work!"

Leaning back, Zack gave his brother a wry smile and said, "Hey, I'm just here for the gold coins, you're the one that wants to study boring chunks of wood, so you do all the work!"

"Argh, you're impossible!" was Cody's exasperated reply as he finally pulled the last of the diving apparatus onto the deck.

"Stop whining and lets get started, chicks love a rich guy!" Zack said, with a roguish grin at Maya, one of their classmates who was coming along on their dive; she just laughed, tossing her hair, and said, "Let's go then."

As the students going on the dive assembled on the front deck of the boat, clad in black wetsuits, Mr Daniels, the dive coordinator, a bespectacled Asian man, whose knowledge of marine biology had impressed even Cody, which was no mean feat.

He gathered the students around him, and began to explain the ground rules of the dive to them. "Firstly, ladies and gentlemen, you will have to go down with a partner, referred to as a dive buddy, and you will have to stay with the person at all times. This is extremely essential as you will then be able to watch out for each other, for the many dangers that lie down in the wrecks of the St Mary."

He paused, to glare at Zack, who was speaking with Maya in an undertone, "You, Me, a romantic undersea adventure, I love this school!"

"Mr Martin," Mr Daniels interrupted, sharp eyes focused on Zack, "this is not a 'romantic undersea adventure', it is a scientific study, and if you are not careful, death is the only thing you will be flirting with. Okay, for safety's sake, you will go with your brother. Better to have someone responsible looking after you."

"What!" both twins cried in unison, "Not a chance in-"

They did not get to finish their combined sentence, as Mr. Daniels, in an unusually strict tone, growled, "well you will go together or not at all. People have died in these waters and I will not have one of my students go the same way." His tone made it very clear that there was no room for argument and the twins could only grudgingly fall silent.

Mr Daniels continued his briefing, "on a lighter note, you will be visiting a ship with aeons of history behind it, a ship shrouded in mystery and grandeur." A dreamy look surfaced in his eyes and he spoke like he was far, far away, "The St Mary's, a magnificent vessel back in its day, was captained by Captain Francois Pienaar, one of the greatest mariners in history, he travelled the world in his vessel, sailing into uncharted waters, discovering never-seen before islands and reefs, until one day, near this very spot, he let down three divers, including himself-and divers then wore large metal suits with hoses connected to air pumps on the boat, to explore the depths of the Carribean Sea. What he found, no one knows, but one thing is for sure, it was important. He surfaced along with his men, white-faced, and shouted for them to make their way towards friendly seas at full pace. But, due to yet unknown reasons, the ship did not make it very far, sinking, and causing the deaths of seventy men, including Captain Francois. Up to this day, no one knows what happened to the ship, causing it to sink. It was in perfect condition, with no obvious signs of leaks or any damage at all, and this mystery is why it remains such a popular diving spot to this date."

As Mr Daniels completed his tale, Zack mouthed wryly out of the side of his mouth, "Wow, how is that 'on a lighter note'?", drawing laughs from his nearby classmates, while Cody, on the other hand, looked shaken, being used to everything being explainable by Science.

He slowly raised his hand, a preoccupied look on his face, and asked, "H-How then was their story discovered, if all of them perished on the boat."

Impressed, Mr. Daniels replied, "Well, on one of the diving expeditions sent down by the museum, they found a journal written by one of the sailors, detailing this event, which ends cryptically with the words, 'Its too late. They are here.' Well, who this they is has been a mystery for decades and still is. Pirates? A rival country? Or maybe even Aliens! No one knows for sure, but the journal also states that the captain kept a secret dairy of his own, which he wrote in just before he died. If that can be found, it would undoubtedly be the answers to all the questions we now have. But my personal opinion is that you guys should not worry about this, just go down there, study the fish and seaweed for your assignment, then just have fun looking around the wreck. No point in trying to solve an unsolvable mystery!"

Though not entirely convinced, Cody just nodded and withdrew his hand. Images of a ship, the pride of the Spanish Armada grandly sailing, before it was brutally sunk, haunted his mind, as he climbed into his wetsuit, along with all his classmates, but just let their idle chatter wash over him as he considered the supposedly unsolvable mystery. Well, he was going to solve it, no matter what Mr. Daniels could say. He, Cody Martin, was going to discover the logical explanation behind the sinking of the St Marys. "Humph," he scoffed, "aliens indeed."

The students clambered one by one to the side of the boat, shivering slightly from the cold. As they stared at the clear turquoise waters, reflecting slivers of the sun's light at them, most of them smiled, anticipating the fun-filled time they would have exploring the depths of the sea. Then, in pairs, they flipped over backwards over the diving platform, slicing through the surface and into the cool embrace of the water.

An involuntary calm filled the student divers as they entered a watery wonderland. The sun's rays were shining through the surface, creating a brightly shimmering underwater paradise. Multicolored corals swayed hypnotically from left to right in the current, stretching short tentacles periodically. As they floated in the shallows, it seemed that all their worries had just dissipated, and for a while, all they could do was lie there, staring at their surroundings with a dreamy look in their eyes. Schools of brightly colored fishes swam past, close enough to playfully nip at their faces.

"What beautiful specimens of pacific marine life!" Cody remarked, staring at the playful clownfish with a look of absolute wonder on his face, then noticing Zack staring at him with a blank look on his face, amended, "Look at all the pwetty fishies."

After what seemed like an eternity, they got themselves together, and followed Mr. Daniels down into the depths, towards the large structure looming in the distance..


	4. Chapter 2

The sunken ship was truly a sight to behold, it stood five stories tall, not including the towering mast and as was as long as thirty cars placed end to end. Perfectly preserved by the still surrounding waters, the only sign of aging was the once-great sails, tattered and torn after decades of being chewed on by curious fish. Symbolising the fallen Spanish Empire at the peak of its glory, rows of rusty cannons welcomed the divers to the ruins of the St Mary. They advanced cautiously as although it looked magnificent, they had been forewarned by the knowledgeable Mr. Daniels, that the most of the wood , though still seemingly stable and sound, was weak and rotting, having spent decades in these waters.

Indeed, as they came up close to the ship, they noticed that what had seemed strong and sturdy from afar was actually dilapidated and much of the ship had been eaten away by the surrounding waters. They spent a while playing around on the top deck, tentatively touching the frayed ropes linking the tattered sails to the deck rails. The deck was surprisingly empty, cleared by the museums years ago, killing dreams of seeing swords, treasure chests, or skeletons clad in the royal red of the Spanish navy, and soon enough, the various pairs of students began on their assignments, collecting samples of plants and micro-organisms to examine back on the ship, well, with an exception of one pair..

Cody Martin, led by an insatiable desire to know the truth behind this mystery, was bent on exploring the entire ship for a clue as to how the unfortunate men met their deaths, which obviously clashed with his twin's plans, for Zack had no intention of spending this time exploring a boring wreck, and was more interested in having some fun underwater, playing a few pranks, maybe hitting on some girls.

Cody swam furiously, flippers slicing through the water, propelling himself towards the bottom deck of the ship, a space primarily designed for storing cargo, eyes quickly sweeping the surroundings for anything the museum's divers might have missed. One such object, which he had found earlier on the second level of the ship, or more specifically, the galley, was a small golden spoon which had little relevance to the problem in any way, aside from placating his increasingly annoyed brother. Zack had demanded the spoon, snatching it away from his brother, hoping that the profit he could gain from selling it would make up for this wasted trip.

However, even that small consolation had worn out after a while and he pointed at his watch, signalling that they were running out of time, and had not even started on their assignment.

Cody signalled back, holding up one hand, asking for just five more minutes.

Zack furiously shook his head and gestured at their collection bottles, still devoid of samples of every sort.

Cody did not even pause to appreciate the irony, that Zack was telling him to finish up his work, instead of the other way around, but instead shrugged off his brother's gestures, and swam off, ascending the hatchways till he reached the top of the ship.

Zack by now had lost all patience and had resorted to poking Cody repeatedly with the spoon, which his brother all but ignored, as he swam upwards towards the crows nest, the only place that they had not looked on the ship. It was, like everywhere else they had searched, barren but from that height, Cody caught a glimpse of something shiny about a little way north of the wreck, glinting in the light filtering in from above.

Immediately, he started swimming, ignoring his quadriceps' protests as he arrowed towards that very spot, an irate brother following close behind. As he approached the object, his heart tightened and a feeling of anticipation and suspense built up within him.

He arrived, floating just above the spot, and brushed away the surrounding sand, holding his breath in excitement, but as he uncovered the objects, his breath, along with his hopes and dreams of finally solving the mystery whooshed out.

It was an aluminium drink can.

He floated there for what seemed like an eternity, hopes fading away as he stared blankly at the can. He had been so sure, so sure that he would be able to uncover the answers to the mystery. Lost in his thoughts, he just drifted, but was brought back by an enormous prod from his spoon-wielding brother. As he felt all his frustrations and hopelessness turn into anger, he lashed out fiercely, sending the golden spoon spiralling out of his shocked brother's arm and down into the ocean bed, embedding itself in a section of coral. Zack chased it feverently, what was supposedly his only payment for having to spend one and a half hours underwater with a seemingly insane Cody. To Cody's horror, his hands scrabbled over the swaying corals and as he wrenched the spoon free, shaking it vigorously to dislodge any loose clumps of coral, he broke apart a section of coral. He stopped short, staring at the coral with an expression Cody could not identify.

Shocked at the mutilation of a wonder of nature, Cody swam down with the intention of hitting his brother but instead stopped as he saw what Zack had been staring at. In between two pink masses of corals, tentacles swaying in the current, lay a human skull. Cody recoiled in disgust, not able to believe his eyes for a second, but his well drilled intellect took over soon after, attempting to re-enact the scene and what must have happened in his head. "The sailor must have fallen overboard when the boat was attacked, or if it was attacked and his remains must have been overgrown by the coral reef. Who knows what other important clues may be lying around!" He thought, gazing at the reef in astonishment.

Zack's curiosity, however, had already been aroused by the find and he was already searching around, apparently having come to the same conclusion- that there might be more artefacts lying around, most of which was probably worth a lot of money. He searched, eyes scanning the surroundings as he looked for any sign of metal. Eventually, his eyes fell on what looked like the corner of a box, not too far away. He propelled himself quickly towards it and ignoring a wince from his brother, broke aside the coral surrounding it, throwing it down to the sea bed, and extracted a small metal box about the size of a schoolbook. The box was made of tarnished brass and seemed to be emblazoned with the Spanish flag in solid gold and encrusted with diamonds.

The resulting expressions were the same, as both their faces lit up, Cody of the scientific importance of this find, and Zack thinking of the amount of money they, and by that he meant he, would make from this find.

Cody signalled again, suggesting they bring it up onto the boat to open it and see what was inside, but Zack, without thinking as usual, opened it there and then, not considering the damage water might do to the contents. They both gasped as it beheld a thick book, bound with fine leather and adorned with multicoloured jewels and shining gold. Its pages made of a special material that even Cody had not encountered before, as it remained unaffected by the waters surrounding it, remaining as firm and hard as it did on dry land. They both held their breaths yet again as they turned it over to reveal the title, which, neatly embossed on the cover, read, "_The journal of Captain Francois Pienaar_"


	5. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry this one took so long but I've been busy with school projects… Haha and I realize I have no disclaimer, so here it is! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Zack, Cody, or any other suite life cast members and I am simply using them as characters. I only own the new world I create and most of the characters in it.**

**Thanks for your kind reviews and please continue to R&R! Enjoy!**

Cradling the book reverently in his hands, he slowly flipped the heavy, leather-bound cover open, to the first few pages and squinted through the water to read it. In neat, flowery script, the first pages detailed the beginning of Captain Pienaar's expedition from his home country Spain out into the open seas, braving countless dangers to discover new lands and bring glory back to the Spanish Empire. Detailing in depth their exploration, it included many pictures and descriptions of the animals and plants they encountered while on their travels.

Exasperated by the lack of useful information, Zack flipped the pages furiously till the last few pages, hoping to find a clue about the mysterious demise of the ship, from which the Captain's body had not been recovered.

Cody's frenzied reading was interrupted by this, and wanting Zack to flip back to the earlier page, so that he could resume scanning the page and taking in the treasure trove of information contained within, he raised his hand, but was stopped short by what he saw on the last page.

It was perfectly preserved, like the other pages, but there were signs of a struggle, with dark-red liquid that they assumed to be blood staining it and obscuring certain sections. The writer had also been cut short midway through a sentence, with ink splashed across the corner of the page and drops of the liquid splattered across the parchment as well.

The duo read it they best they could, making out most of the journal entry..

_I brought back the tablet on how to find the gateway, brought_

_essential they must Beware th_

_ready ourselves for send word back, must return with_

_reinforcements battle ready, defeat immense power _

_They are coming. It is too late for us. Warn- _

The rest of the entry was illegible, covered by the smear of black ink, much to the dismay of the two brothers. They flipped to the back cover in desperation, and on it lay a small stone tablet, plain and unadorned, with the instructions Captain Pienaar mentioned. Once again, they brought it close to their faces, as the shifting waters made it hard for them to see.

_Made of flame_

_And made by waves_

_The gateway lies_

_Inside these caves_

_The gates will open _

_Right at midday_

_But be wary,_

_It goes one way._

The dire warnings reverberated in Zack's skull as he tried to comprehend the meaning of these words. Whatever the situation was, however, it seemed foolhardy to pursue the matter more anyway, considering they had only around fifteen minutes of air left and he beckoned at his brother, signalling that they should surface.

However, Cody's mind was focused on solving the riddle rather that the possible repercussions of doing so, and the more he thought about it, the more only one location seemed to fit the bill.

Underwater caves. Some were large and others small but in that area, they were almost all created out of molten lava or "flame" as described by the tablet. They were also the creation of the waves, which lapping at the hardened balsamic rock, ate away at it, shaping it into many bizarre structures.

Although such caverns were plentiful and some could stretch up to a few miles long, all evidence pointed to the ship not getting very far from where it started before it was destroyed, and thus the caves in question should be nearby, thus only one option was possible- Nelson's Column. Named after the monument in Britain due to its similar shape, the sea stack towered over fifty feet tall, and it stood to reason that, as it was the only large stone structure nearby, it was also a cave, albeit one thus far undiscovered by man.

And so, he swam towards it, legs driven by the intensity of his determination to get to the bottom of the mystery. Zack stared in horror as his brother jetted off into the unknown and, his love and concern for his brother overpowering all his senses, which were telling him to stay away from the "gateway" that Cody was searching for, followed, resolving to personally kill his brother if they ever got out of it alive.

They made yards quickly and soon were confronted with a massive tower of stone, made from lava and supercooled by water. Dwarfed by the massive structure, Zack felt even more afraid and alone as he tugged on his brothers shoulder, attempting to urge him to leave.

Instead, Cody pushed on, leaving Zack to trail close behind, trying to quell a rising fear of the unknown, which was not helped by the fact that his brother was acting like he had been possessed. The two swam around the giant tower of stone, searching for some means to enter the tower which Cody, once again, found to Zack's disappointment.

It was a large stone lever, hidden in a groove in the impregnable surface of the wall. Grunting, Cody pulled in, and bit by bit, extremely slowly, the lever moved, creaking and grinding. Placing his entire weight on the lever to conquer the surprisingly large amount of resistance it had, while at the same time marvelling at the fact that he was probably the second human being to step within here, he pressed the lever down, causing a large chunk of stone to move aside.

They entered, hearts pounding into a small dark tunnel, lined with branches on metal brackets on the wall. It was almost pitch black within the room the tunnel led to, which filled the twins mind with panic, as they would be unable to find the entrance, and the were running out of air. Then, Zack's feet touched the stone floor and as he stepped forward, his head broke through the surface of the water. It was shallow enough to stand in!

Both the twins walked forward some more, hands outstretched to prevent themselves from bumping into anything, heads turning from left to right, jerking at the tinest sound, which betrayed their inner fears and anxiety that they were feeling at that moment in time. Meanwhile, their eyes had just started to get used to the darkness when a beam of light entered the room.

Grunting, they shielded their eyes and gave it some time to get used to the light filling the room, after which they gingerly removed their hands and surveyed their surroundings. The light had come up from above, where a small patch of blue sky could be seen.

"_Nelson's column is hollow!"_ flashed through Cody's mind as he gazed upwards, then around him. The whole thing seemed unreal, like a scene out of a dream or a movie. They were in a square room, with only one exit, which was totally submerged, but probably was still on dry land during Captain Pienaar's time. They were on an island in the center of the room, the sole piece of dry land, with seawater surrounding the island. The two boys removed their regulators from their mouths and took a breath of fresh air, enjoying the luxury while they could. They realized a large arch filled the room with strange glyphs carved into them, which were most certainly not in English. The walls were plated with what seemed like gold and had carvings of figures fighting along the centre. But the most bizarre was yet to come.

The whole column above them, leading up to the ceiling from which the air and light was entering, was lined with mirrors, large ones, tiny ones, an assortment of all sorts. Some were shiny and perfect, while some were tarnished and old but the pure number of them overwhelmed the twins.

"What could they be for?" wondered Cody aloud, as his mind whirred, he came up with a possible answer, and his face paled. He shouted, "Get out now!" but it was already too late.

The Sun reached the peak of its journey across the sky, at exactly noon, filled the opening in Nelson's column, flooding the room with light, unbearable bright, pure light. The runes glowed simultaneously, some red, others blue or green or yellow, and the frantically fleeing boys were bathed in the multicoloured light, which engulfed them, generating a tingling sensation where it touched them.

The world around them started to fade, overpowered by the myriad of colours flashing and swirling now, and as Cody lunged out for the wall in desperation, his hands passed harmlessly through it. There was an unbelievably loud whooshing sound, as the coloured light completely surrounded them, and then all was quiet.

The room was silent and the light was fading as the sun started its descent. The room now empty of nosy teenage boys, lapsed back into darkness, as just a few hundred feet away, students, blissfully oblivious to what had just happened began surfacing, hands eagerly clutching their bottle full of marine organisms.

"AAAAAA" the only sound left was the screaming of the terrified twins as wind whipped through their faces, ruffling their hair and burning their eyes. The sound had long since subsided, but the light continued to twist and turn, many different colours pulsing in and out of the visible spectrum. After what seemed like and eternity, they were deposited on a rough, rocky floor, and gaps began to appear in the spinning ball of light surrounding them as slowly, the light faded, leaving them once again, in the dark.


End file.
